Kim Kardashian: We Can’t Keep Up!

Where Do We Begin?

A few years ago you might have heard Kim Kardashian’s name and said, “Who?” That was then. Now her name rolls off our tongue (she was 2010’s most searched term on Bing, after all). She’s become a one-woman phenomenon and an industry. Everyone wants to keep up with this Kardashian.

Before Kim graced the cover of nearly every tabloid, her late father, Robert, made headlines for his prominent role as a member of O.J. Simpson’s legal team. I got to know him in 1995, while reporting on the infamous murder trial. But it wasn’t until 2007, with the debut of the reality show Keeping Up With the Kardashians, that the rest of the family (including mom Kris, stepdad Bruce Jenner, sisters Kourtney and Khloé, and brother Rob) rose to fame. Today Kim has a full-fledged fashion empire, including boutiques across the country; clothing, jewelry and fragrance lines; and numerous endorsements. And she makes heads turn everywhere, even in the CBS newsroom! When she sat down with me in my office before Thanksgiving, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. But I learned there’s more to Kim than what we see on her show. I was pleasantly surprised by her drive, humility and—dare I say—normalcy? I think you will be too.

Katie Couric: You are such a phenomenon right now that I wanted to first ask: Why do you think you have so completely captivated the public’s imagination?

Kim Kardashian: At first, I think that people were intrigued by the glitz and glam of my family’s lifestyle in California. But they stayed interested because we were a lot more normal and relatable than they had assumed. We might be spoiled in some people’s eyes, but we are not brats. I get letters from little girls begging me to adopt them.

Katie Couric: Why? What is it about your family?

Kim Kardashian: We work really hard, and we fight like normal sisters fight, and we make up. We’re so supportive of each other. We always stick together. Having lots of siblings is like having built-in best friends. I also think that my parents did a really good job of putting their [divorce] behind them. We had family vacations together. It might seem odd to some people, but Father’s Day included all of us—Bruce, my dad, my brother, my sisters, cooking breakfast at my mom’s house, and all the guys golfing together. We [still] do everything we can to keep my father’s presence really heavy in our everyday lives. [Kardashian’s father died of cancer in 2003.]

Katie Couric: Is it bizarre having every aspect of your life recorded?

Kim Kardashian: I once commented to Lamar [Odom, Khloeacute;’s husband, who plays for the L.A. Lakers] after I introduced him to a guy I was dating, “Do you think the cameras freaked him out? I hope he gets used to it and knows it’s normal.” And Lamar looked at me and said, “What you need to really understand is this isn’t normal.” But as a family, we realize that this life is crazy, but as long as we don’t change and we all stick together, nothing can affect us.

Katie Couric: But how can you not change? How can you be authentic?

Kim Kardashian: When we first started [the show], we came together as a family and said, “If we’re going to do this reality show, we’re going to be 100 percent who we really are.” E! has never once put anything out there that we haven’t approved of or accepted. If there’s something that we’re going through, it’s going to get out anyway. It’ll be on the cover of a tabloid, and it’ll be twisted the completely wrong way. So why not tell our story?

Katie Couric: Can you go out on a date, Kim, and say, “This is just me and there are no cameras”?

Kim Kardashian: Oh, absolutely. But it’s easier to just be single and not have a relationship. How do you get to know someone on a reality show? Some people think that they can handle it, and then they really can’t.

Katie Couric: I can’t imagine, if I were a guy, signing up for that. I would be like, “Check, please.”

Kim Kardashian: [Laughs.] Exactly! Hence, I’m single right now.

Katie Couric: You’re known to be quite a workaholic, and I mean that in a positive way, as it takes one to know one. [Laughs.] How did your parents instill such a strong work ethic in you? Where did you get your entrepreneurial streak?

Kim Kardashian: Being little and watching my dad get up, put on his suit every single day, go to work—seeing how hard he worked. He let us know that when we turned 18, we were going to be cut off, and we had to sign a contract for everything. When I was 16 and it was car time, it was negotiated that I had to pay for my gas, and if I crashed the car, if anything happened, I was liable. Everything was a contract with my dad. And I still have them—I saved them all. Well, when I was 16, I bumped someone and I had to pay for it. So I got a job working at a clothing store, and ever since then I’ve loved to work.

Katie Couric: Did your father encourage you girls to go to college?

Kim Kardashian: Absolutely. I went to college for four years. I got married at 19 [to music producer Damon Thomas, whom she later divorced], so I ended up not finishing. But the last thing [my dad] said to me before he passed away was “I know you’ll be OK. You will be successful.”

Kim Kardashian: I’d be foolish not to take some of these opportunities that are coming my way. We all know this can go away at any moment.

Katie Couric: Are you ready for that if that happened?

Kim Kardashian: Absolutely. I swear! I think I’m really at the point now where I feel I’ve done so much that I’m OK with not having that attention. Sometimes it’s overbearing. I used to think that I would never feel this way. Before, we used to buy all the tabloids and see if we were in them.

Katie Couric: I live in fear of the Fashion Police. I have been featured, in a bad way. I was so embarrassed. I had kind of a heinous outfit on, though, I have to be honest with you. [Laughs.]

Kim Kardashian: It used to affect me so much if blogs would say things. I would be so upset. Now I don’t even buy [the tabloids].

Katie Couric: Some people have suggested that your mom is behind the scenes, pushing you all to do things you don’t want to do. I’m sure you’ve read that. What do you call her, Momager?

Kim Kardashian: [Laughs.] It’s not true—if anything, it’s the opposite. We’re the ones pushing her, like, “Mom, we need this!” We’re all pretty savvy in the kinds of things that we want to be doing.

Katie Couric: Because a lot of young women read this magazine, I wanted to ask you about issues you’ve had with your body in the past and growing up and being bullied. You developed early, is that true?

Kim Kardashian: Kourtney probably bullied me the most because she hadn’t developed. She was always making fun of me. I mean, when I was 11 I was a C-cup and I got my period. I was just insecure.

Katie Couric: But how did you sort of come to love, accept and appreciate the body you had?

Kim Kardashian: I remember I would sit in the bathtub, and I would put a hot washcloth on my boobs and think, Please, Lord, just please, I don’t want to grow any bigger. I would cry. My mom would say, “You are going to love this one day.” And she was like, “You’re Armenian. Look at all your aunts. They’re super curvy, and this is your family. This is who you are.” We were raised around all of our Armenian cousins, and I know a lot about the culture. So I think that made me confident in who I am.

Katie Couric: And so confident that you posed [nude] in W and Playboy. What motivated you to do that? Because going from feeling uncomfortable about your body to letting it all hang out, that’s a big step.

Kim Kardashian: It’s a huge difference, yeah.

Katie Couric: How old were you when your pictures in Playboy came out?

Kim Kardashian: I was 27. Women like Cindy Crawford and Marilyn Monroe have been on the cover of Playboy. So when Hugh Hefner himself asked me, I thought, I’m young, and this is iconic for me. Obviously my stepdad was like, “I think that your father would be mortified if you did this.” It was an independence thing for me. I was always by the book, such the straight arrow when it came to pleasing my parents and being a good daughter. I felt like this was one decision that only I could make. And I think it looks great. I’ll have those pictures forever.

Katie Couric: Let’s get to some reader questions. This is Glamour’s Guy Issue. What would you do if you woke up as a man?

Kim Kardashian: I love being a girl. I’m such a glamour girl. I would be a tranny! [Laughs.] I would find a wig.

Katie Couric: I think I know the answer to this, but I’m going to ask it anyway. How do you feel about being a sex symbol? Is it empowering or degrading?

Kim Kardashian: It’s definitely powerful. I don’t find myself as sexy as everyone thinks. I’m a lot more insecure than people would assume, but with little stupid things. When I get dressed, I’m always so indecisive.

Katie Couric: Does it really take five hours for you to do your makeup? That’s not true, is it?

Kim Kardashian: Absolutely not! I would freak out.

Katie Couric: I was really worried. Another Glamour reader asks, “What advice would you give to women who aren’t as comfortable with their bodies? Do you have a mantra?”

Kim Kardashian: It’s a process. You have to learn to accept it. You have to learn to like what you see in the mirror. There are definitely times when I don’t feel like myself, but you have to fake it until you make it.

Katie Couric: “What advice would you give a young woman starting her own business?” A good question for you since you’ve started about 27 so far.

Kim Kardashian: You have to stay committed. Some people start and stop, or get a little bit lazy. Every year my mom and I write out a goal sheet—I really believe in writing stuff down. Five years ago we wrote down that it would be our dream for me to get a fragrance. And when she got the call [that it was happening], she was in tears. We have all these crazy goals, and when we achieve them, we’re so much more excited because we put a lot into it. But I’m also thankful for everything. If you had asked me five years ago what I would be doing at 30, I would have said, “Married with a kid or two.” Not in a million years did I dream that I would be doing all the things that I’m doing.

Katie Couric: But do you still want to be married and have kids?

Kim Kardashian: Absolutely! I want four. My mom reminds me every day that at my age she had four. [Laughs.]